As many of you know I am a part of Young Living Essential Oils. I love this company, the products, the people and the vision. I want to share with you a powerful lesson that I learned last week.

I was offered the chance to go to the Northern Lights Black Spruce Farm in Ft. Nelson BC.  This was so exciting and I really had to laugh.  I lived in Ft. Nelson as a child. I have many friends and memories from there. Ft. Nelson was not a destination town, friends.  For many it was a quick stop to work and make some money and continue on with life. It was a place that people could not wait to leave.  Mile 300 on the World Famous Alaska Highway, it was a place of passing though and was bumper to bumper with oversized Texas plated Motor-homes in the summer and cold, dark and quiet in the winter.

Going back to Ft. Nelson this week was not at all what I expected it would be.  I learned that God loves irony.  He loves to create huge power from things that are often small and unnoticeable.  And truth be told, the black spruce tree is not a revered and respected tree to the people up there, oh, they see that value now.  In fact it is referred to as Swamp Spruce, a garbage tree that is often in the way.  They are not very attractive and you would NOT bring one in for a Christmas Tree.  They like to grew in a swamp, we call that Muskeg in the north.  The loggers often look right past them for the Loge pole Pine and other more valuable trees.   But these little trees have a powerful secret inside.  Only those that pay attention to nature, listen to the wisdom of our ancestors and trust their intuition know that the life blood of these trees has a far greater value then first appearances would assume.

 

When Young Living harvests plants and trees for their oils they know the precise time that the plants or trees need to be harvested and distilled.  For the Black Spruce, it is in the coldest part of winter when the oil is in the trunk, branches and needles.

A group of us harvested these little trees by hand, and with tender love and care. It was -30 degrees out there and these cold little trees are so brittle.

 

The trees are then chipped… I know right, after loving them and being so gentle we let them go through the chipper… it felt so strange.  Then they are taken on a big truck and brought to the cooker. Let’s call that a sauna, everyone loves a sauna!  We help those chips get nice and cozy in the cookers.

Then, long story short, steam a just the right time, temperature, pressure and duration, is put up through the chips. The steam helps carry the essential oils that are released and then it is condensed back to liquid form so that the oil and water can separate.   This is the most amazing part of the process. After all the hard work out in the cold, chopping down the trees, stomping them down in the huge cookers (harder work that you may think friends)  the separator is were we get to see the fruits of our labour for the first time.  I will admit, while out in the frozen muskeg cutting tress and walking them over to a pile and chipping and stuffing the cookers… you kinda wonder if this is even gonna work.  Then as the water started to rise you see beautiful golden oils sitting there like a crown on top of the water.  The first time I laid eyes on it, I got what Gary Young so often suffers from, leaky eye syndrome.  I was so amazed at this beautiful powerful oil seemingly magically appeared before my eyes, and in awesome wonder, I wept.

WOW, that God would put such a beautiful and powerful oil in a little unnoticeable, swamp-dwelling, saggy-branch tree that most people would walk right by or destroy without a second thought.

What can we learn from that friends?

 Our God is consistent. We find consistency throughout creation.  What was confirmed for me was that God has put in all of us something beautiful and powerful.  No matter the packaging. No matter the reputation or the long standing thoughts of the people around us. There is something amazing in all of us.

So what is needed to bring that out?

Love.  Love goes trudging though the frozen swamp, gently plucks us up, stand by as we go through the “chipper” in life, and receives us on the other end.  Love gets to know us well enough to ensure the right time, temperature, duration and pressure brings out the best we have within us. And when we are lovingly brought through this process at the end we wear a crown of love.  The love that someone radiates after this process is evident to all and is felt in the hearts of many.  Friends, there is unsuspecting greatness in all of us, we just have to be willing to be distilled.

I am in awe of what this little tree that I grew up around, was slightly ashamed of when compared to the majestic trees of the south and otherwise ignored, has taught me this last week.  I am thankful to be have been witness to this process as well as one lovingly brought thought it. All praise be to God.

Last note.  a dear friend said the words “Love Conquers all” many times this week.  Upon reflection, I see that so clearly.  Love conquers all friends, never forget that and be open to receiving it.

Keep Well Friends,

Donna